BRETT HOFFMAN: Gray eyes return to National Finals in Vegas

Last year, Ryan Gray missed qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo after earning seven consecutive berths to the Las Vegas championships.

But this year, the former Texas Tech star is on pace to return to the National Finals. During the past weekend, Gray came a step closer by winning the bareback riding title at the ABC Rodeo in Lubbock and the $1,207 check that came with it.

After all that, Gray, who has residences Cheney, Wash., and the West Texas town of Petersburg, is ranked seventh in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback riding world standings with regular-season earnings of $20,024. If Gray can finish within the top 15 when the season concludes on Sept. 30, he will qualify for the 2013 NFR.

Gray won the ABC Rodeo bareback title after turning in a score of 89 aboard a bronc named Movie Madness, owned by the Beutler & Son Rodeo Co., and he was among numerous world-class competitors who cashed in at the Lubbock rodeo.

In barrel racing, for example, Lindsay Sears, a two-time world champion who has homes in Nanton, Alberta, and the West Texas community of Ropesville, finished sixth with a time of 14.42 seconds. Lee Ann Rust, a 2012 NFR qualifier, clinched the title after turning in 14.09.

In steer wrestling, 2009 National Finals qualifier Hunter Cure, another former Texas Tech star, shared the title with Cody Pratt. Both cowboys turned in a time of 4.0 seconds.

David Motes, the 1977 world champion who has 22 NFR qualifications, clinched the team roping heading title after he and partner Byron Wilkerson turned in a time of 5.3.

The Lubbock rodeo also drew potential world-class competitors such as Billy Bob Brown, a Tarleton State student who won the tie-down roping title after turning in a time of 7.8 seconds. In addition to being a prize-winning PRCA competitor, Brown also is an outstanding college rodeo athlete. He currently ranks No. 1 in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Southwest Region tie-down roping standings.

The Texas Tech women's rodeo team entered this weekend's Western Texas Rodeo in Snyder ranked second in the NIRA Southwest Region. Texas Tech has earned 1,303 points during the regular season. Tarleton State is ranked No. 1 with 2,160.

In the men's title race, Tarleton is No. 1 with 4,015 and Odessa College is No. 2 with 2,886.

CBR update

The 21st Tuff Hedeman Championship Challenge is scheduled for April 6 at Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The show will feature the Championship Bull Riding circuit‘s top athletes. The event is headed up by Hedeman, who earned three gold buckles in the PRCA and one in the PBR.

The 2013 edition will offer a new format to fans. The top riders compete three times during the performance. In the past, the winning rider would compete only twice, in a first and final round. But the 2013 Hedeman show features the 24 top bull riders in Round 1 and then 12 high scorers advancing to Round 2. The finals will feature the top four cowboys.

The Professional Bull Riders will offer $100,000 to the winner of the Last Cowboy Standing, a Built Ford Tough Series tour stop that's scheduled for May 10-11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. After finishing No. 1, the champion will have the opportunity to earn an additional $80,000 if he can stay on a bounty bull in a promotion called the Monster Energy Money Bull Bonus. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000. The ticket prices range from $20 to $125. For more information, visit www.pbr.com.

Brett Hoffman, a Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame member, has written a rodeo column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram over the past quarter century. Email him at brett@myrodeoinsider.com.